As with any school curriculum, there are certain requirements all students must meet in order to graduate. In Ontario students need to complete 30 credits, 40 hours of community service, and successfully complete the Ontario Secondary School Literacy requirement.
What is the Literacy Requirement?
The Ontario Literacy requirement measures whether students meet the minimum standard of literacy across all subjects up to the end of 9th Grade. Essentially, the literacy requirement shows that a student has the understanding and skills in English to successfully navigate the basic literacy requirements for future high school courses and the world as a whole.
How Do You Complete the Literacy Requirement?
There are two options when it comes to completing the Literacy requirement for students in Ontario. They can either complete the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) or they can complete the Ontario Literacy Course (OLC4O or OSSLC).
For students registered in physical Ontario high schools, and some remote learners, they will complete the Literacy Test. This year the testing will take place in two sessions, between November 1 and November 30th and between March 20th and April 24th. Your school will let you know which date and time they’re planning on administering the online test.
For more information on the test, you can take a look at the Ministry of Ontario website.
Now, if you do not successfully pass the literacy test or you’re a remote learner, this year you can complete the course in place of the test. At OVS, our students can take the OLC4O course to meet the Ontario Literacy requirement for graduation.
The Ontario Literacy Course (OLC4O or OSSLC)
The OLC4O course works much the same way as any other course at OVS. From the time students sign up they have to be enrolled for a minimum of 4 weeks and they have up to 1 year to complete the course. This course does count as an elective credit towards your OSSD, as well as covers the literacy requirement.
In this course students will learn about essential literacy skills that they’ll need to succeed in school, work, and in daily life. To complete the course students will need to complete both unit tests, portfolio assignments, reading logs, and a final exam.
Upon successful completion of the course students will have met the Ontario Literacy requirement for graduation.
Whether you complete the test or take the course, the Ontario Literacy requirement is something all student’s will need to complete in order to graduate. So it’s important to keep yourself informed what the Literacy requirement will look like for you.